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Apple has released OS X Mavericks 10.9.2 to the public following a lengthy developer beta, and with it comes quite a few new features and enhancements to the Mac desktop operating system:

FaceTime Audio in the FaceTime and Messages apps

Contact blocking for FaceTime and iMessage

Mail app improvements

Autofill fixes for Safari

Audio fixes

VPN fixes

VoiceOver fixes

Also included is the SSL security vulnerability fix that Apple fixed in iOS last week, and earlier today on Apple TV. Many Mac apps were still at risk, including Safari and Mail. The company stated a few days ago that it planned to have a fix released "very soon," and four days later, this patch is included in OS X 10.9.2.

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Alongside all the major news coming out of today's Apple iPad event, the company has also released an iOS update. iOS 7.0.3 bring a few new features to the platform, like iCloud Keychain, which works alongside the same feature in OS X Mavericks (which was also released today on the Mac App Store) to keep your account names, passwords, and credit cards synced across your devices, while protecting them with your Apple ID. Here is a rundown of all the changes in iOS 7.0.3:

Adds iCloud Keychain to keep track of your on account names passwords and credit card numbers across all your devices

Apple is set to release OS XMountain Lion 10.8.2 soon, and it's shaping up to be a pretty substantial update. Sure, there will be the typical bug fixes and optimizations, but we can also expect the long-awaited Facebook single sign on functionality, bringing sharing to (and notifications from) the social network built right in to OS X. The update will also bring the Power Nap feature to Late 2010 MacBook Air notebooks, phone number support to Messages, shared Reminders lists, the ability to add cards to iOS Passbook from your Mac, and plenty more. We've got the list right here:

Aside from built-in Facebook integration, another major feature coming to OS X 10.8.2 is iMessage phone number merging. This functionality will allow you to receive any iMessages sent to your iPhone phone number on any approved iOS devices or Mac of your choice. In other words, if someone has your phone number and sends you an iMessage to that number (rather than your Apple ID email address,) Mountain Lion 10.8.2 will be able to receive and display them in the Messages app, and you'll be able to respond to them from there as well. It's the final missing piece in making iMessage device agnostic (well, as long as it's an Apple device.)

To merge your phone number with your Apple ID after you update to OS X 10.8.2, simply launch Messages and log in to iMessage. You'll then get a prompt that asks if you'd like to associate your phone number with your Apple ID. If so, just select Yes, and you're done! OS X 10.8.2 is set to be released this fall.

Hot on the heels of the release of OS X Mountain Lion 10.8.1, Apple has seeded 10.8.2 to developers, and it includes a couple of interesting features. With 10.8.2 should come the built-in Facebook integration that Apple promises will come to Mountain Lion this fall. In addition, iMessage phone number merging appears in 10.8.2 as well, a feature that will allow users to receive iMessages sent to their phone numbers on their Macs, iPads, and iPod touch devices. Apple asks developers to also focus on Game Center and Reminders in the first 10.8.2 build 12C31a.

This morning Apple publicly released OS X Update 10.8.1, the first update for Mountain Lion. The release comes just two days shy of a month since the initial Mountain Lion release on July 25th. Here are the major changes and improvements included in the release:

Mountain Lion has been out for a couple of days, available for just $19.99 on the Mac App Store. Judging by our server logs, many of you have already upgraded to the latest Apple OS. For those still on the fence about what exactly you're getting for your Jackson, we figured we'd explain the top user-facing features of OS X 10.8. Sure, Apple is touting that Mountain Lion includes over 200 new features, but redesigned scroll bars are hardly anything to get excited about. Here are the Mountain Lion features that prove that $19.99 is a steal.

A bunch of Mac apps are being updated today (like Rdio and Fantastical) to support today's release of OS X Mountain Lion, now available on the Mac App Store. iPhoto joins the list with release 9.3.2, which includes support for Mountain Lion and adds sharing options for Messages and Twitter alongside other performance and stability improvements. You can download the update now.

Apple is set to release it's next major operating system update, known os OS X Mountain Lion, later this month. In this edition of Ask Andru, Tracy writes in and asks if there is anything she should do to prepare her Mac computers for the Mountain Lion installation. I share some tips on what we can all do to ensure a smooth upgrade experience to Mac OS 10.8.

Question: I hear that Apple will be releasing a new version of OS X shortly. Is there anything I need to do in order to prepare for it to ensure that I can run it? Will it be expensive?

You're correct! Apple announced OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion just five months ago, and it will be available in under two weeks. Mountain Lion will sell exclusively on the Mac App Store for $19.99 (so, not expensive at all!) and will include some nice features, including AirPlay Mirroring from your Mac, tighter iCloud integration, Twitter and Facebook built-in at the system level, Reminders, Notes, Game Center, a new Messages app that will let you send and receive iMessages from the Mac, iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. In total, there are over 200 new features that Apple is introducing in Mountain Lion.